Mourning Dove

If you’re looking to bring some new visitors to your yard, throw out a handful of millet and see if the fascinating Mourning Dove will find it. Mourning Doves, with their distinctive coo and exciting courtship and aggressive displays, are one of the most interesting backyard birds to watch.

The 11 – 13” Mourning Dove is a member of the pigeon family.  The male and female are difficult to distinguish, but the bird is easily identified by its long central tail feathers, a large black spot at the base of the ear patch, and gray-brown plumage.  Even if you can’t see the bird, the melancholy song from which its name is derived is a giveaway.

The call is actually given only by the male in efforts to attract a female.  Throughout their long breeding season, which begins in early March and may include up to four broods, male doves fill the air with despondent long-coo calls.  Nestlings are fed crop mile, a nutritious fluid composed mostly of fat and protein that is regurgitated by both parents.

The female usually lays two white eggs in a loosely constructed twig nest built on the limb of a tree, in a bush, or, less frequently, on the ground.  A short coo, comprised of the first three notes of the longer coo, will indicate a mating pair may be building a nest in your area.

Mourning Doves naturally forage for food on the ground, usually feeding in groups of two or more. They eat mostly seeds from grasses and weeds, and will also eat some fruits, pine seeds, acorns, snails, and insects.  They will visit an open tray feeder, or a medium to large fly-through, to dine on millet, cracked corn and shelled black oil sunflower seeds (“sunflower chips”).  Birdbaths are often attractive to Mourning Doves as well. 

The Mourning Dove is an abundant bird that is found in suburban yards, parks and rural habitats to the delight of backyard bird watchers everywhere!